Abby Nadeau
Community Editor

Just over a month ago the Forest Lake Times published an article about a safety initiative Fairview hospital's employees were taking part in.

The safety project involved a simulation of a woman about to give birth and the complications that can arise in labor.

Now the revolutionary safety initiative is being recognized nationally for health care quality.

In a press release issued by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the study led by Fairview Health Services and the University of Minnesota School of Public Health has been listed as "one of the Top 10 Improvement Ideas of 2006."

The In-Situ Simulation was created to help patient safety by evaluating how hospital employees, working in obstetrics, communicate.

The release states that "while past efforts have focused on the technical skills of doctors, nurses and technicians, this new training aims to improve a critical element of safety that is much more difficult to measure: communication and team dynamics."

"Experts are finding that threats to patient safety are not because hospital staff lack technical skills or a commitment to safety," said William Riley, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Public Health and lead investigator in the study. "Rather, most often, the cause is a breakdown in communication among hospital staff."

The release goes on to explain that "unlike most hospital safety training that occurs in classrooms or simulation laboratories, in-situ training happens in the same labor and delivery units and operating rooms where teams work.

"The simulations are fast-paced and involve emergency ëstressors' -- things that suddenly go wrong with a patient or procedure. High-tech audio and video equipment record the action so medical teams can review their performance in a post-simulation debriefing."

"When the teams see the playback of their simulation on screen, they realize immediately where communication can be improved, processes are failed, and mistakes are made," Riley said. "In 25 years of training, this is the most powerful teaching method I've ever seen."

Participating hospitals include Fairview Southdale Hospital, Fairview Ridges Hospital, Fairview Lakes Medical Center, Fairview Northland Hospital, Fairview Red Wing Medical Center and the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview.

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